| about the artist |
Mikhail STAROSTIN was born in January 1959 in the village. UST Tompon. In 1977 he graduated from the art school of Yakutsk at master Votyakov, in 1990 graduated from industrial graphics Department of Krasnoyarsk State Art Institute, where he studied at S. Livak, M.Gladunov, S.Kulikova. 1999-2000 . He worked as a senior art editor national book publishing house "Bichik, 2000, Professor of Arctic State Institute of Arts and culture. Member of Union of artists of Russia since 1991, one of the authors of the national flag of Sakha Republic (Yakutia), (jointly with Sleptsova L.d. and Zakharova A.P., 1993). Honoured artist of Sakha Republic (Yakutia) (2010). Awarded by Ministry of culture of the Russian Federation "for achievements in culture" (2004), by the President of the Sakha (Yakutia) "for the contribution to development of the Republic" (2007), awarded with the sign of the Union of artists of Russia "spirituality, tradition, craftsmanship" (2011), a silver sign of National Book editing after S.A. Novgorodov "for the contribution to development of national book publishing" (2013). Starostin's works you can see in the collection of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Kyrgyz National Museum of fine arts of G. Aytiyev . City of fine arts, the Moscow House of nationalities, Novosibirsk State Art Museum, the Sakhalin regional Museum of art, Tomsk Regional Arts Museum, Heyluntsyan Association for the development and study of Russian painting (Harbin, China), in private collections of many countries of the world (England, Germany, France, Canada, the United States, China, Japan, etc.). Constantly Starostin works creatively. Actively participates in the following art exhibitions: in Republic, all-Russian and foreign ones. His paintings and graphics in a variety of genre and subject matter includes the inviting to reflect expressive style, in which the interwoven expressive emotionality, decorative, mystery and amusing details.
...Together with the artist we watch carefully in the world of the past and see the shocking in guessed creativity?, which convinces with its appealed and disturbing at the same time. Characters of paintings all-not the embodiment of sin, and not the embodiment of virtue. They are part of the environment, part of the infinite space that even hard at call nature, because of the nature which we used to see in the pictures. Starostin doesn’t describe alasy, rivers, trees, mountains ... He deliberately avoided details, like that of bringing the space around a person to such a Convention, that is the space between transforms in time category. This effect is enhanced by the eternal movement of his characters, which are almost always in the way-whether in a boat, on the bulls or walking... Studying carefully his works you catch youself thinking that they did not reflect Yakut but more universal reality. The real-of bears and asceticism of the Northern spirit, and the tragedy of the middle ages, and philosophical detachment of the modern human mind , trying to think over the whole humanity had accumulated experience, wearily throws away heaps of senses and leaves the closest and important. This is a northern man and his space. This image went through the artist's imagination, it was difficult and long way, and getting rid of all superfluous , appeared so clear and pure that you want to repeat after the Japanese any extravagance is a disgrace. What has been hidden within things, is more valuable and interesting than is on its surface. May be that is the real artistic credo of Starostin, who will never "tell" stories on the canvas in details " His attitude to any artistic material respectfully, without wasting them for nothing, as the real Master. And this ecstasy by artistic materials are felt in all his works, which are received from a variety of people.
Elena Yakovleva, journalist